


Late Night with Peter Parker and the Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist

by goindownshipping



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Flirting, M/M, Talk Shows, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:13:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25734871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goindownshipping/pseuds/goindownshipping
Summary: “Hey everyone, and welcome back to Late Night with Peter Parker! I’m Peter and I’m thrilled to have you all with me this evening”. Peter glanced out at the studio audience’s smiling faces and couldn’t help but mirror their excitement. “I am stoked to introduce our next guest tonight. Known to the world for his technological advances and outlandish sunglasses, please welcome Tony Stark to the stage!”Or: Peter Parker is a late night talk show host and has Tony Stark, CEO of Stark Industries, on as a guest. Tony has a huge crush on Peter.
Relationships: Peter Parker/Tony Stark
Comments: 10
Kudos: 139





	Late Night with Peter Parker and the Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist

**Author's Note:**

> Finally getting some stuff posted here! Woo hoo! I saw [this gifset](https://goindownshipping.tumblr.com/post/620570020310892544) and couldn't get this AU out of my head.

“Hey everyone, and welcome back to Late Night with Peter Parker! I’m Peter and I’m thrilled to have you all with me this evening”. Peter glanced out at the studio audience’s smiling faces and couldn’t help but mirror their excitement. “I am stoked to introduce our next guest tonight. Known to the world for his technological advances and outlandish sunglasses, please welcome Tony Stark to the stage!” 

Peter glanced away from the crowd and cameras, to where Tony began to enter the stage. While the framed glasses and vibrant dress shirt were certainly expected, Peter found himself caught off guard by the carefree way Tony quite literally danced onto the stage. The crowd cheered so loudly that Peter could hardly hear himself think. As Tony clapped, snapped, and shimmied to the beat of the music, Peter found himself standing to greet the self-proclaimed “genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist”. 

Peter ran his sweating palms down the front of his dress pants under the guise of pressing out the wrinkles, hoping his nerves weren’t apparent to every set of eyes on him. Tony grabbed his hand with vigor and Peter was suddenly aware of how Tony sucked everyone in. The man’s eyes were a gorgeous brown and Peter found himself mimicking the crinkling smile coming from the man opposite him.

His earpiece caught his attention as his stage manager cleared her throat. Peter suddenly became aware of the crowd noise again and gestured for Tony to take a seat, not missing the quick smirk from the billionaire. “Tony Stark everyone!” Peter exclaimed, hoping to buy himself a moment to remember the questions he lined up for the segment. 

Typically, Peter liked to start with a rough outline for the interview, but mostly allow for organic conversation to flow without a set list of questions. To his dismay, that plan was quickly shut down by Stark’s team. Initially, Peter was hesitant to extend the invitation to Tony Stark, knowing the reputation the man carried. When Tony’s PR team gave Peter a strict list of topics to stick to, he nearly made his booking team cancel the segment. 

Ned had just glared at him and swiftly refused. “Peter, there is absolutely no way we’re canceling on Tony Stark,” Ned had stated. “Mr. Stark is without a doubt the biggest name we’ve booked for your show. You can deal with one night of scripted questions”. Ned left no room for questions, and that was that. Peter was presented with a short list of topics he could discuss and a long list of items he was absolutely forbidden to bring up. Whoever said you could do whatever you wanted once you had your own show had never met Ned Leeds.

Coming out of his thoughts, Peter was having a difficult time believing the carefree man in front of him was the same man with the strictest interview protocols he’d ever seen. Peter gave himself a final moment to catch his breath, and dove into his list of questions. “Well Mr. Stark, it certainly is an honor-” 

“Oh please, kid, call me Tony. Let’s drop the formalities here.” 

Peter’s breath caught in his throat and he attempted to cover it with a cough. He could tell it was unsuccessful when he saw MJ roll her eyes from the side stage. Peter focused on the man in front of him rather than his visibly stressed stage manager. 

“Alright then, Tony,” Peter started nervously. “It really is an honor to have you join me here tonight. Not many people know this, but I started off as a Mechanical Engineering student at NYU before switching over to Communication Studies. Your innovation inspired me to start down that path,” Peter finished. 

Tony’s face stretched into a wide grin. “What a shame we lost you to the dark side,” Tony said with a chuckle. Tony continued to throw Peter off-guard with his easy smiles and quiet laughter. 

Peter cleared his throat, directing his attention to the notes hidden on his desk on set. “Well,” Peter started, “I am certainly fascinated by the technology you’ve continued to develop over the years. Most recently, you revealed the extent to which the arc reactor can be used for sustainable energy. What inspired you to get so involved in that sector?” 

Tony’s eyes lit up at the mention of his most prized invention - that the public was privy to, at least. “When I discovered the impact of our weapons manufacturing, I knew I had to refocus the company’s mission,” Tony said quickly, almost dismissively. Peter knew better than to pry into the weapons situation. That story had dominated headlines for months, and was clearly blacklisted on the protocol Peter was given. “The arc reactor,” Tony continued, “is something I personally developed, tested, and implemented at our first factory. I could see the many applications it was capable of. I knew that I needed to share something inherently good with the world. For so long, I thought I was the good guy, and we all know how that turned out. The reactor is my way of living up to the title of ‘philanthropist’ that we all know I’m so fond of,” Tony finished with an easy smile. 

“What are your long term goals for the reactor?” Peter asked. As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized he was going slightly off-script. Tony either didn’t notice or didn’t mind. 

“Oh man,” he said with a smile and a tilt of his head toward Peter. “There are so many applications for it. Ideally, I would love to see it power entire cities. Imagine a city with self-sustaining, clean energy powering the grid. That’s a rabbit hole I don’t think we have time to go down.” Peter simply nodded and smiled at the generosity and brilliance of the man in front of him. 

Peter glanced up at the screens in front of him, noticing that it was already time for a commercial break. “That all sounds incredible Mr. St-, Tony. That’s incredible. We’re taking a quick break, but when we come back we’ll hear about some creative robots and hopefully the story behind the famously tinted sunglasses!” The studio audience applauded, and they got the signal that they’d cut to commercial. 

Peter and Tony quickly turned to each other, taking a moment to introduce themselves a bit further. While Peter had initially been hesitant to have Tony on the show, he was pleasantly surprised by the other man’s openness. 

“So kid,” Tony smirked, “are you really just going to ask me about robots and my sunglasses?”. Peter felt himself blush at the question. 

“Well,” Peter glanced at the approved topics on his desk. Tony caught the move and before Peter could do anything, Tony was reaching for the sheet. His eyes roamed over the paper and he scoffed. 

“Did Pepper send you this?” he questioned. 

Peter shrugged his shoulders. “My team was told everything else was off limits”. 

Tony looked past Peter toward backstage and clearly made a face at someone Peter couldn’t see. “Kid, it’s your show. Give the people what they want,” Tony said with an easy smile and a glint in his eye. 

It almost seemed like a challenge and Peter certainly never backed down from a challenge. His crew indicated that they were ready to roll the cameras again and Peter quickly collected himself. “Alright Mr. Stark, you asked for it,” he said, not even trying to hide the mischief in his voice. 

Tony grinned, looking more like the cheshire cat than anything. Tony held Peter’s gaze for a moment too long, neither of them noticing the countdown from the camera crew.

Suddenly the audience was clapping again and Peter heard a very frustrated MJ in his ear, “Pete, you’re on! Stop making heart eyes at the billionaire!”. Tony blushed, and Peter quickly realized they were both wearing the same ear pieces. Peter turned to face the audience and cameras with a bright smile on his face. 

“Hey everyone and welcome back. I am joined by Mr. Tony Stark, CEO of Stark Industries”. Peter chanced a look at Tony and didn’t miss the way his eyebrows raised at his use of the prefix.  _ Game on _ , Peter thought to himself.

“Alright Tony, we’ll get back to the robots and sunglasses, but I want to start with a question that’s been on my mind since long before you were scheduled to come on my show,” Peter stated matter of factly. Tony nodded, encouraging Peter to ask the question. “You have been known to describe yourself as a ‘genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist’. I’d love for you to tell us a bit more about that.” Peter leaned back in his seat, leaving Tony to divulge any information he was willing to share. 

Tony took a deep breath, clearly contemplating just how honest he wanted to be here. Whether Peter knew it or not, Tony really only cared about making a good impression on one person in that studio. He shifted in his seat, and pushed his glasses further up his nose, attempting to protect himself from the glare he knew Pepper was throwing his way.

“Well, I think the world knows the history of my genius and billionaire status,” Tony quipped. Peter nodded, encouraging the man to continue. “I was lucky, or unlucky depending on who you talk to, to graduate MIT at a young age, and when my parents passed, I inherited the business.” Tony spoke quickly, clearly less comfortable with these topics. However, he maintained his same open demeanor, not shying away from Peter’s bluntness. “It was important to me to create a legacy and I knew I had the resources to do so,” Tony continued. “My mother had a passion for fundraising and charity work, so I found a way to incorporate that into Stark Industries with the Stark Relief Foundation.” Tony paused, glancing at Peter for his reaction. Tony was met with eyes full of emotion that he couldn’t quite place. 

The moment passed and Peter seemed to come back to himself. “That’s all lovely Tony, but you’re forgetting one very important part of your catch phrase,” Peter grinned mischievously. Tony offered up a tight smile and heard a few whistles coming from the crowd. 

“Ha, yes, playboy, huh?” Tony muttered, just loud enough to be picked up by his microphone. “In all honesty, that’s the one part of this line that’s the least accurate,” Tony admitted. “Sure, I’ve had some fun over the years, but playboy status was never really my style. I could never be good at that - I get too attached to people.” Tony looked up at Peter meaningfully. 

“So then why did you accept it, if not flaunt it, for all these years?” Peter pressed. 

“I uh - I think it felt safer?” Tony answered, seemingly unsure of himself. Peter waited, allowing Tony the time to continue gathering his thoughts. “If the world saw me as someone incapable of having anything permanent, then I could protect the people closest to me. It’s tough to put up that front, but it was the best thing I could do for the people I love. Besides, once the public got the idea, it would’ve been pretty hard to change their mind,” Tony shrugged. Peter nodded in understanding, still not quite believing the conversation he was having with Tony Stark. 

“So,” Peter began curiously, “if playboy isn’t your style, is there anyone special you’d like to tell us about?”. Tony couldn’t help the full body laugh that tumbled out of him. He could feel some of the tension leaving his body in that moment. 

“Wow kid, you really know how to catch a guy off guard. No I - uh, I’m not seeing anyone at the moment.” Tony glanced up to see Peter looking at him curiously. Tony glanced out toward the audience, seeing them chuckle along with him. “Do you have anyone you’d like to tell me and your fine viewers about?” Tony asked with a challenge. 

Now it was Peter’s turn to be surprised. His cheeks quickly flushed and he could feel the heat travel all the way down his neck, past the collar of his dress shirt. “Um, I - uh,” Peter stammered, unable to make eye contact with Tony. “Nope, I - no one right now,” Peter finally managed to say. “Talk about catching someone off guard,” Peter muttered. At this point the entire studio audience was laughing at the two men on stage, Peter only hoped his production team and Tony’s PR team wouldn’t have his head. 

“Alright everyone, it looks like we’re running out of time, with Mr. Stark here. Tony, thank you so much for joining us this evening!” Peter reached over to shake Tony’s hand in thanks as the audience broke out in loud cheers again. If their touch lingered for a moment too long, no one seemed to notice.

Peter turned back to the crowd and cameras for his closing. “Thank you all for joining me on Late Night with Peter Parker! We’ll be back tomorrow night for another great show. Good night everyone!” Peter waved to the camera until the director called “cut!”. 

Peter and Tony were quickly shuffled off the set and toward the judging eyes of MJ and who Peter could only assume was Pepper, Tony’s publicist. Before Peter could start defending himself, Tony quickly jumped in. “Pep, don’t bother getting upset at the kid, I told him to ask about whatever he wanted to. It’s his show for fuck’s sake!”. 

“I uh, I’m sorry if I crossed any lines Mr. Stark,” Peter said quietly. 

“Peter no, that was the most entertaining interview I’ve done in a while,” Tony said honestly. “Thank you again for having me on.” Peter nodded. 

“You’re very welcome, we’d love to have you back anytime. Maybe then we can actually talk about your robots and your sunglasses,” he added. 

Before anyone knew it, Tony was being ushered back to his dressing room as Pepper muttered something about the jet leaving for Washington D.C. Peter had hoped to pick Tony’s genius brain for a moment, but the man was clearly very busy. 

Peter chatted briefly with members of his team as well as a few of their guests from the audience. Everyone commented on the fact that he managed to get actual answers out of the elusive Tony Stark. Before long, Peter was waving to MJ and Ned and heading to his own dressing room to unwind from the taping. As he thought back on the interview with Tony, he still couldn’t quite match the man he expected with the man he met on set today. From his giddy entrance to his honest answers to his cheeky banter, Peter was somewhat enamored with the Tony Stark he met today. 

Peter was brought out of his thoughts by a soft knock at the door, which was odd considering Ned or MJ would typically just barge in. Peter made his way to the door and swung it open to reveal a much softer looking Tony Stark. Gone were the thick-framed glasses and suit, and in their place was damp hair, a soft looking long-sleeved tee, and worn jeans. 

Peter couldn’t get his eyes off the man in front of him. “Um, hey Mr. Stark, can I help you with something?” Peter asked. Tony just smiled. 

“Mind if I come in for a moment? I have a few minutes before I have to get out of here”. Peter nodded and stepped aside, inviting Tony into the room. 

“Can I get you anything?” Peter asked, gesturing to the small fridge in the corner of the room. 

“I’m alright, thanks Pete,” Tony answered easily. Peter looked at Tony expectantly, unsure of why the man was standing in his dressing room. “Will you let me take you to dinner?” Tony suddenly blurted out. Peter noticed a blush on the man’s cheeks and the way he wouldn’t meet his gaze. “I just, I think you’re brilliant, you’re witty, not to mention gorgeous, and I’ve been a fan for a while, god I sound pathetic,” Tony babbled. He took another breath to continue explaining himself when suddenly Peter was in his space, making it impossible to breathe. 

“If I say yes, will you tell me about the robots?” Peter asked. 

“God kid, I’ll tell you anything,” Tony said in a rush, closing the little space left between them. Peter’s hands grasped onto Tony’s biceps as Tony’s hands fell to his waist. They both stared at each other’s lips for a beat too long. “Pete, please,” Tony breathed. Both men moved forward as their lips met in a soft kiss. Tony’ hands grasped tighter as Peter’s hands moved to grab a fistful of Tony’s shirt. Another knock at Peter’s door had them quickly pulling back, but Tony kept a tight grip on Peter’s waist, keeping him close. 

“Tony?” came Pepper’s voice. “We really do need to get going,” she called softly. 

“Just a minute, Pep,” Tony answered.

Tony wordlessly passed his phone to Peter, who quickly entered his number. Tony managed to send a quick message and Peter heard his phone vibrate from across the room. “Two days,” Tony breathed against Peter’s lips. “I’ll be back in two days and I’m taking you out.” 

Peter felt excitement bubble up inside of him at the prospect of having Tony’s undivided attention on him. Peter nodded as he walked Tony toward the door. He pressed a quick kiss to Tony’s lips and reached for the door handle. 

As he opened the door, Tony leaned in to whisper, “If you’re lucky maybe I’ll even tell you about this cute talk show host that I’ve had my eye on for a while”. Peter couldn’t help the grin that stretched across his face as he watched Tony disappear down the hallway. His phone buzzed again from his dressing room as he made his way back inside. He snatched his phone to save the new number he already had two messages from. 

The next time he got a message from that number it would read “Genius, Billionaire,  ~~ Playboy ~~ , Philanthropist”.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, friends! Feel free to come say hi on [Tumblr](https://goindownshipping.tumblr.com/), my username is the same as here, goindownshipping.
> 
> See y'all soon!


End file.
